In the short story of “The Gospel According to Mark”, Jorge Luis Borges introduces the readers to controversies to the works of missionaries faced by many civilizations around the world. Borges accomplishes this by accompanying the story with ironic symbols and substantial religious references which allow the readers to connect the story to relevant past events. In this short story, Borges ironically criticizes the effects which various missionaries had on different groups of indigenous people. Amongst these effects, a portion of the effects were positive, while a great majority of the effects was negatively impacting the indigenous groups which the missionaries came in contact with.
Borges begins the story by introducing the protagonist.
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This characteristic is also evident in Christ’s years of preaching. Christ was who could effectively portray his message to a congregation of over one thousand individuals. Espinosa is a man who stayed away from confrontation; he would rather have his opponent to win. These are some of the characteristics that Jesus Christ displayed in the Bible. After Borges concluded associating Espinosa of a Christ like figure, the reader come to find Espinosa stranded in the Gutre family’s house after the flood which destroyed Espinosa’s sleeping area and the roads to the city. This is comparable to the Biblical account of Noah’s Ark. This was a period in time when there was a flood that wiped out all the Earth’s inhabitants with the exception of Noah, his family, and animals that were able to find their way into the ark. The comparison of Espinosa to Christ and the various Biblical references do not stop here. Borges went on to compare Espinosa to Christ after he cured an injured pet lamb by his medical skills while the Gutres were trying to stop the hemorrhage using traditional practices passed down through generations. This act is accountable for bringing Espinosa his amiability within the Gutre family. The family began …show more content…
The work of missionaries which Borges was criticizing in his story is prevalent in various realistic part of the world. Taking in account David Lindenfeld’s Indigenous Encounters with Christian Missionaries in China and West Africa, 1800-1920: A Comparative Study, we come to learn how language plays a crucial role in the missionaries’ ministries world-wide. In the text, Lindenfeld states that the teaching and the spread of most of the Western religions are based on the biases and understanding which are evident in the language used for the teaching (Lindenfeld 329). Consequently, the majority of the indigenous people tend to convert the new religion based on misinterpretation of the world. For instance, Lindenfeld claimed that “Missionaries could not find the proper Chinese term for ‘God’, and although they found words in African languages for ‘creator god’ or ‘supreme god’ these words often had very different connotations from those that the missionaries read into them” (329). As evident in the modernized world, the persistency of teaching the indigenous peoples the new religion, the indigenous groups had to adapt to the new languages; as a result, turn back on their traditional beliefs. We can solidify the notion that given certain
One of the most interesting aspects of Diaz’s narrative is towards the end when Cortés broaches the subject of Christianity with Montezuma. Conversion and missionary work was one of the most important and lasting goals of the conquistadors and other contemporary explorers, they were charged with this duty by the rulers who sent t...
The study of religion is often a rigorous process because the central tenets of the subject: image, ritual, and myth are often copious in their complexity. For example, consider the multiple meanings that are inherent in the image of a crucifix. Some Christians might view it as an image of suffering, whilst others would reject that notion and instead perceive it to be one of love. These differences may seem inconsequential at first, but they can overtime shape the beliefs of an individual and by extension a community. To understand this dynamic better one only has to analyze the Christo Aparecido (Christ Appeared), an authentic Mexican crucifix with a fascinating history from the colonial era to the present. This history is made known by the text, Biography of a Mexican Crucifix: Lived Religion and Local Faith from the Conquest to the Present by Jennifer Hughes, from which I contend that over the life of the Christo Aparecido there continues to be an understanding among devotees that this crucifix is sacred because it displays animus while being a vestige for the sacred to occupy. To support my position I will attempt to relate the moments where the Christo Aparecido is said to show signs of life, in particular his stay in Mexico City during the colonial era and his role in more modern times with rival groups clashing over its efficacy in the village of Totolapan.
In A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, Bartolomé de Las Casas vividly describes the brutality wrought on the natives in the Americas by the Europeans primarily for the purpose of proclaiming and spreading the Christian faith. Las Casas originally intended this account to reach the royal administration of Spain; however, it soon found its way into the hands of many international readers, especially after translation. Bartolomé de Las Casas illustrates an extremely graphic and grim reality to his readers using literary methods such as characterization, imagery, amplification, authorial intrusion and the invocation of providence while trying to appeal to the sympathies of his audience about such atrocities.
To be a true disciple of Jesus one must not disown or deny Jesus but
Mark's Gospel and Nature of Discipleship In Mark's Gospel, there are many accounts of Jesus' disciples and Apostles which are helpful to Christians as examples of the nature of discipleship. In this part of my coursework essay I hope to address questions involving what Mark's Gospel tells us about Jesus' disciples and Apostles, as well as defining the principle of what being a disciple entails, and defining also who the apostles were. This is because by learning about past disciples and the Apostles, a modern disciple of the Church can learn about the nature of discipleship. A disciple is somebody who is inspired enough by somebody to learn about them, listen to their ideas and follow them and their way of life.
who "does what God wants them to do". This simply means that if we put
What a Study of Mark's Gospel can Tell Christians About the Nature of Discipleship In Mark's Gospel, the true nature of Discipleship to Christians was giving all that they have in the service of God and of other people. Also giving time and money to help others and requires total commitment. It was important in Mark's Gospel because Christians were being persecuted for their beliefs in Jesus. True Christian Discipleship means being prepared to accept this suffering even if it leads to death. Christian discipleship was reached out to anyone.
The Gospel of Matthew is an eyewitness story written for an audience of believers, under great stress, and persecution. Matthew develops a theological plot incorporating genealogy, speeches, parables, inter and intra textual references, common vocabulary, and fulfillment quotations, with a tension that builds as we are invited into the story. The crucifixion and resurrection bring us to a Christological climax that symbolically points beyond its conclusion to God’s Kingdom, bringing atonement, salvation and the ushering in the Eschaton. The extraordinary events surrounding the crucifixion act as commentary, adding important details concerning the death of Jesus.1
One of the main characteristics of the gospel of Mark is it’s length. Mark is much shorter than Matthew and Luke, but what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. The author of Mark does not slow down the gospel story and makes sure that only important and relevant details are included. When Mark is compared with Matthew and Luke, it becomes obvious to see what Mark has eliminated. The author’s omission of Jesus’ birth, lineage, resurrection, and ascension denote careful planning and purpose in the gospel of Mark.
Wrong actions can affect your surroundings negatively, and can clearly have profound effects on people, animals, or nature. One of the examples that have led to the destruction of culture and nature is colonization. Colonization is the mistreatment of a weak country by a powerful country, moving their people into the territory of interest, and exercising power to rule over the people, and the land. Some of the colonization that took place ended up eradicating people’s spiritual and religious beliefs and replacing it with theirs. Rather than destroying other peoples’ beliefs, the colonizers should have practiced spiritual syncretism. Spiritual Syncretism, also known as spiritual hybridity, is the cultural mixing of spiritual and religious beliefs. This happens when those colonized do not to lose all their beliefs and customs, and instead chose to mix them with the beliefs of the colonizers. An example of this is in the Latino culture where catholic saints and tribal African deities are worshipped as the same entity. In this essay, I will argue that, how European Colonizers eradicated the Native American worldview and forcibly converted them to their own beliefs was unjust. I will also argue that spiritual hybridity is a better solution than eradicating other peoples’ beliefs.
Today, the non-Western world boasts the majority – more than 60 percent – of the globe's Christian population. Whilst some have heralded this as the beginning of Christianity’s transformation from a primarily European religion to a truly global religion, others have noted that it is actually a reflection of the earlier demographic situation: Christians of the Global South were in the majority for the first 900 years of Christian history. “Christianity was born in Africa and Asia, and in our lifetimes, it is going home.”
There are four Gospels in the new testament; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each one writing his perspective story about Jesus, his teachings, his works, his sacrifice, and his resurrection. At the same time, they each seem to elaborate on specific elements of Jesus. The gospel of Matthew writes about the bloodline, the ancestors of Jesus. The gospel of Mark, writes about Jesus as a servant to God. The gospel of Luke, writes about Jesus being the son of a human. The gospel of John, writes about Jesus being the son of God. Having an understanding on the focus of each gospel will help the reader know Jesus and his works better. However, this essay will concentrate on “The Gospel According to Mark,” written in Bruce Manning Metzger, translator of, The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version with The Apocrypha (p. 1791). The gospel of Mark is documentation of
had great faith in Jesus and teaches us that we should do the same. In
In the gospels of Mark and John, both showed a vivid portrait of Jesus in their writing. Mark’s gospel describes much more of Jesus' life, miracles, and parables as suffering servant. However, John’s gospel was written to convince people to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Nonetheless, both John and Mark present many of the crucial events of Jesus' life, including his trial, crucifixion, and resurrection.
The Gospel according to Matthew, although being the first book of the New Testament canon, it was not considered the first gospel genre to be written. Matthew’s gospel gives an account of the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. In this essay, I intend to look at how the exegesis and interpretation of this gospel may be affected by our understanding of the authorship, its intended readership and where and when it was written. Although all these categories are important in their own right, I will focus more of the intended audience and readership of this gospel.